Alan Edgar Knight

Alan Edgar Knight, Plant City native, professor emeritus of French at the Pennsylvania State University, and recognized expert on medieval theater, died September 17, 2015, at his home in Berkeley, California. He was 84.

Born September 7, 1931, in Plant City, Alan was the first child and only son of Ernestine and Jesse Edgar Knight. He learned to play piano and organ at an early age, and so he began his undergraduate studies at Florida State University as a music major. But soon after he entered college, the Korean War broke out. Feeling the call of duty, Alan left school to enlist. He served with the Eighth Army in Seuol until he was honorably discharged 1954.

Alan traced his academic career back to Plant City Junior High, where he first read Shakespeare. He became still more captivated by theater when, on leave in Tokyo in 1953, he discovered Kabuki, the elaborate and colorful stage tradition of Japan. Traveling in France after the war, he saw famed French actor Jean-Louis Barrault play Molière’s Scapin, a performance he recalled decades later as “breath-taking.” The stage became his life’s passion.

Returning to his studies with newfound purpose, he finished his bachelor’s degree at Florida State in 1958 with a major in French. He earned a master’s degree in French literature from Fordham in 1960, and he completed his doctorate in French literature at Yale in 1965.

Also at Yale he met his future wife, Isabel Knight, when the host at a reception assumed, becuase they shared the same last name, that they were already married. After Yale, Alan and Isabel moved to State College where they both joined the faculty at Penn State. Over the course of Alan’s 33-year career, he received numerous grants, fellowships, and awards, including the Gilbert Chinard Literary Prize and the Penn State University Class of 1933 Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Humanities. He was soon regarded as a leading expert in the field of medieval French drama. He published dozens of articles and a number of books. He travelled widely for his research and presented papers throughout the United States and Europe.

Alan Knight’s research culminated in the editing and publishing of his magnum opus: Les Mystères de la Procession de Lille, a collection of 72 previously unknown fifteenth-century plays. Finding time around his teaching schedule and continuing well past his retirement, Alan worked every day for 26 years to complete the 5-volume set. During that time he received three grants from the National Endowment of the Humanities to finish the work.

Known for his cooking skills and his extensive collection of wines, Alan took great pleasure in planning and hosting dinner parties for family, friends and colleagues alike. A typical evening would begin at six with cheeses and Alsatian wine in traditional green-stemmed glasses. Dinner would run course after course, usually until midnight. Holidays were always special. Alan loved breaking with tradition at Thanksgiving, shunning turkey for a huge pot of bouillabaisse. Every Christmas eve he served king crab legs and champagne, and on Christmas day he treated anyone lucky enough to be at his table—family, friends, and snowbound colleagues—to a standing rib roast. He oversaw these evenings with the skill of a consummate host, ensuring continuous conversation and much laughter.

Alan’s other interests included stamp collecting. He was a life member of the American Philatelic Society, and through the years spent many hours in building his extensive collection. Alan also enjoyed keeping an herb garden. He was especially proud of a cultivar of spearmint he started growing while he was at Yale in the 1960’s. He propagated the mint over many decades, transplanting it several times when he moved house. Several years ago, Earthbound Farms, an organic produce grower, accepted a mint plant from the Knight family for sale at its store in Carmel Valley, California, dubbing it “Knight Mint.”

One of the highlights of Alan’s retirement years was getting to know the Academy Award-winning actress Joan Fontaine in Carmel, California. He was delighted to be a guest speaker at the last of Fontaine’s salons: a champagne luncheon that she hosted shortly before her death in 2013. There, he gave his last formal talk about the history of French medieval processional plays. Afterward, Fontaine remarked that Alan was one of the finest gentlemen she ever had the pleasure of knowing, adding, “Alan is a kind and refined man – he is one for the ages.”

Alan is survived by his sister, Julie Knight of Valrico, and his two sons and their wives, Jonathan Knight and Marcia Belvin of Albany, CA, and Michael Knight and Rebecca Knight of Solvang, CA. Alan is also survived by his grandchildren Tyler and Melissa Knight of Albany, CA; a step-granddaughter, Ingrid Boedker of Liverpool, England, and his former wife Isabel Knight of Albany, CA, with whom he remained close friends after their divorce in 1977. His parents Jesse Edgar and Ernestine preceded him in death.

A memorial service and viewing was held for Alan at the Harris Funeral Home in Berkeley on September 26. Alan will be laid to rest alongside his parents at Oaklawn Cemetery in Plant City on October 2 at 11 a.m. Flowers for the graveside service may be sent to Wells Memorial Funeral Home at 1903 West Reynolds Street, Plant City, FL.